The referee Anthony Taylor was the centre of a controversial and fiery encounter between Chelsea and Cardiff City after incorrectly awarding a goal for the hosts and then sending-off José Mourinho for dissent.

Such was Mourinho's fury with the official that he refused to attend the post-match press conference after his side's 4-1 win, instead sending his assistant Steve Holland to explain that the Chelsea manager lost his temper with Taylor in the 69th minute for telling Branislav Ivanovic to hurry up with a throw-in having, in his view, not dealt with persistent time-wasting by Cardiff players.

Mourinho reacted to his dismissal by taking a seat among the home supporters and, in truth, he should be thanking Taylor for awarding the goal that got Chelsea back into the contest. Having gone behind to Jordon Mutch's 10th-minute strike, the hosts equalised through Eden Hazard on 33 minutes, but only after Samuel Eto'o had kicked the ball away from the reach of the Cardiff goalkeeper David Marshall as he bounced it on the turf. According to the game's Law 12.16, a goalkeeper is considered to be in control of the ball even while bouncing it and any attempt by an opposition player to take it away from him should be "punished by a direct free-kick".

"I've got to be careful what I say because I'm not intending having money taken away from me," said Malky Mackay at the end of what has been a troubled fortnight for the Cardiff manager. "I asked for clarification of the ruling and what the referee and linesman saw. The explanation leaves me disappointed. They felt that the goalkeeper dropped the ball. My goalkeeper bounced the ball, and they thought he had dropped the ball and said if he had bounced the ball that would have been a foul. So obviously that is a mistake."

Taylor's aberration may well see him removed from the Premier League's referee list for next week's round of matches, which includes Manchester City's visit to Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Ahead of that contest, Mourinho could also be sanctioned with a touchline ban.

"José's very frustrated and that stems from the time-wasting of the opposition," said Holland after a match in which second-half goals from Eto'o, Oscar and another from Hazard sealed victory for Chelsea. "We mentioned it on several occasions to the fourth official but he didn't do anything about it. And then when Ivanovic had the ball in his hands for no more than two seconds the referee started pointing to his watch. So there is huge frustration and to be sent-off for showing that is harsh."